Demons are a Girl's best Friend by Linda Wisdom

Plot:  Maggie is a 700 year old witch who works for the Guard. A group of top secret supernatural cops. The original Men in Black.  Declan is a half demon of the fire breed who just wants to run a good old fashioned night club.  One single mission puts Maggie in the line of his fire, for all the wrong reasons. The two find themselves partnered up to take care of a human teenager who holds the key to the ultimate portal. One that when opened will bring death and torture to all the worlds. Can they work together without letting their emotions get the better of them, or will they have to smolder the spark between them in order to save the world?


Witches, Shapeshifters, Demons, Vampires, Gnomes, Elves, an evil cult  and talking jewellery.  What more could you ask for.

This was a beautifully done character driven romance.  The sex scenes were not too overpowering nor did they feel out of place.
In fact, there was a very quirky underscore in this romance, and that was finding not the perfect man, but one who was perfect enough with all his faults.  As we see Elle, a magickal spider who wants nothing but to find a way to keep her lovers alive beyond one sex act.  And Sybil, the Elf who is looking for someone who is more then just pretty.

Maggie's character, is a richly written woman, who's verbal wit could match anything Joss Whedon could have put into the mouth of his blonde heroine.  And just as tough.  Giving Maggie a back story of loss in the form of a dead sister, was a delicate balance to give some depth to her combat ready style.

Declan's character, at times leaned very much towards that of an incubus (of which the author cleverly added in the form of another relative) then the fire controlling demon he was designed to be.  His back story is one that would be interesting to explore more of.

The beginning of the sub-story between Maggie and her human charge, played out as would be expected, giving her normal teenaged issues in the form of bad boyfriends and school bullies.  But there were moments when the character of Courtney felt like a plot device that took on a mind of its own.  I would have liked to have been given just a tad more on the character's upbringing before she joined the story.
Too often, paranormal/supernatural novels come off as stuck up,  this thankfully is very casual in it's approach to the topics.  The characters are developed enough to be relatable, yet the subject matter is still fantastic enough to be entertaining.

We are introduced to so many characters who easily could branch off into their own novels, which might be a delightful thing to see, as I have been told this is the first book in a series. (I hope they were not teasing) Though it does lend itself to "past history"  that makes me wonder if it's part of a series, and not the first chapter?

It had a very Buffy meets McMillan and Wife feel. I thought this was the perfect balance between romance/dramatic  and supernatural genres.  The vampiric overtones (Succubus, Vampires, manipulation by the priests and the higher demons, the scene with the bully's dad at the school)  that you find throughout leads me to add this book more to the vampire genre then to just a straight forward witchcraft genre.  Which coming from a long time vamp fan, is a wonderful thing.  I can not remember the last time I read a vamp book with that much interest.

The Werewolf Upstairs by Ashlyn Chase

Plot: Roz Wells is a lawyer who just moved into her best friend's old apartment. In the courtroom she's tougher then nails and can take on anyone or anything.  In the bedroom, she's unsure of herself and shyer then shy. Her reason for moving into the building is to protect her friends.
One of her new neighbours, Konrad Wolfensen, is about to need her protection, as he's just been arrested for a crime that is twenty years old. Konrad on the other hand, feels he's the one who needs to protect those around him, from Nathan downstairs, to Chad upstairs, to Morgaine on the second floor.
Roz soon learns that not all is what it seems, as Nathan is a shapeshifter, Chad's a ghost, Morgaine's a witch and Konrad is a werewolf. The worst part is, she's head over heels in love with Konrad.  This is one day in court Roz might not want to loose.


Even though, this is the second book in Ashlyn Chase's paranormal series,{her first being Strange Neighbours} this was my introduction to her work.

I have to say right off,  I have mixed feelings about this book.  Part of Sourcebooks Casablanca selections, it is not your average "romance" novel.  

I felt like I was reading two different books that just managed to end up in the same covers.

I adored the paranormal angles of this story.  The idea that you would have a building that housed some of the city's supernatural characters was something I was looking forward to exploring. (such as why one building would be a magnet for them?)
Making two of these characters witches, Morgaine and Gwyneth,  who are as different from each other as can be, but still giving them "normal" jobs (sex phone operators) was a fresh way to deal with what could have turned out too much a cliche.

The werewolves mythos that she used has just enough research to be believable (protecting the pack and mating for life). Having given Konrad not just a back story that included the pack, but a twin brother added to his layers like a cake.
I do however, think too much time was spent on the human angles of this novel and not enough of the paranormal was accounted for.
A few questions that surrounded the characters of Chad and Reginald- the two ghosts- one of which being about their leaving their buildings, left me wanting to know more about their back stories and mythos, but sadly, this was something the author just left open.

As well, I felt disappointed by the court scenes.  I felt like I could have found any of the crime scenes on an episode of Law and Order.  There was just very little meat on the bones in this area of the story.

Personally, I would have loved to have seen a bit more time given to the characters of Nathan and Morgaine.  Nathan's character seemed to be where the dry wit was hiding, but rarely got to shine in the story.


I wasn't as thrilled with the "romance" angle of the story.
I myself write this way, with sex scenes that border more explicit language then what you would find offered most of the time.  But in this case, I have to say less would have been more. It just seemed like every three pages there was a sex scene, which for me was over kill. I would have like to have been given one big one at the front of the book, and one big one at the end instead of the six or so that filled the pages.
This is straight up erotica and can not be classified as a romance at all.

As I said, this is part of a series, and coming into it midway like this, I can't help but wonder if some of the paranormal issues have been explained in the other books?  If so, then it is safe to say the author's works are not very well at being "stand alone" books.

Books I've been reading lately

Between the one's I've been doing for review,  I've been doing a book club.

So far, we've had two selections

1. Jane Slayre  (April 's book of the month)
2. Eat Pray Love (June's book of the month)

With summer, we've sort of slowed down.  Hoping that things will pick up soon though.

I've also read for just myself  Bergdorf Blondes 


I will have reviews on these in the next few days.  The book club is still in the middle of Eat Pray Love     You can find us on Facebook too

Elvira Three Pack

Back in the mid 1990's Horror Hostess and Queen of Hallowe'en, Elvira along with her long time writing partner John Paragon, put out a series of books.

They were as campy as the Mistress of the Dark herself and filled with classic monsters but that wasn't the only gimmick they used. As the first book in the series Transylvania 90210 suggests, they mixed pop culture icons from Saved by the Bell and 90210 to create something that could only have come from The Mistress of the Dark.

These make for a light laugh out loud read at just under 200 pages each, and a series I dearly hope gets a reprint. I was little depressed to find out there were only 3 books in the series.

Darren Shan : Cirque Du Freak Book 1

I received this one in the mail last week and only now had a chance to sit down and read it.

I have to get my hands on the rest of them, cause I think I found my new addiction.

Darren Shan is your average school kid. He likes playing soccer, hanging with his friends and spiders. When Steve his best friend manages to get them tickets to the traveling Freak Show, Darren can't wait.

The two boys witness what at first seems like simple stage magic while at the show but soon find out the best act is a real vampire.

Steve decides that he's tired of his life and begs the vampire to make him one. Only something goes wrong and he's left even more angry then before.

Meanwhile, Darren has a plot of his own, to steal the vampire's pet spider. Soon the two boys find themselves way in over their heads and facing their own deaths. Will they turn on each other or find another way to get away from Cirque Du Freak?

I have to admit, for a Young Adult novel this one had me glued. There is one scene between the character of Darren and his sister Annie that made me have to do a double take. It clinched the entire book for me, and I suddenly started thinking in metaphors and not taking the story as face value anymore.

Always a good thing in my view.

The characters are complex, rich and not at all what you would expect. The author managed to capture the emotional ups and down of young pre-teens with a vividness I haven't seen in this genre in years.

I love the little nod to Anne Rice by having the character writing under the pen name of Darren Shan as well as a very refreshing fact it's not set in the same old gloomy areas most vampire novels have been set. It's very much a British story so if you are unfamiliar with the British language it might throw you off at first.

This gets a 4 and a half out of 5 fangs from me.

Twilight Series

Originally posted on my blog Alucard's Rose on Dec. 22 2008

I decided to wait til I had read all the books in the series before doing a review. That was only because I had read them all one right after the other this last week.
I did however do separate reviews for Chapters Community as I finished each book, so here one by one is what I had to say about them on that profile.

TWILIGHT

It's Pride and Prejudice with vampires.

It was a hard time for me to get into this novel. It wasn't until the rival clan was introduced that it seemed to get interesting for me. And it was more then the nod to Jane Austen near the beginning of the story that had a continued underline throughout ; that never let me stop thinking of Edward as Darcy.

Granted the film was playing more on the Romeo and Juliet idea, but this is straight up Austen style love affairs.
I was hoping through the last few chapters that the characters of Alice and Jasper would be expanded on, but they weren't.

I hope the next one in the saga will be better.


NEW MOON

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The fact it focuses on the werewolf story line was a nice turn, and it didn't seem as depressing as Twilight had. Maybe you just don't notice the rain as much in this one?
The idea that life continues after a heartbreak has always been a favourite theme of mine in stories, and the connection to the secondary characters from the first book made this a little fleshier a plot.
The only real upsetting factor for me was how the character of Laurent was handled. I would have written his part very differently myself. And the seen in Italy with the coven reminded me very much of Armand from the Vampire Chronicles.
Overall I found New Moon to be a much better read then Twilight.


ECLIPSE

I have to admit, I am shocked that I am liking this series.
I was very skeptical with it being geared for teens but books two and three have had me glued. I read Eclipse in a day and a half.
I liked this one for the simple fact it started to unravel the idea of first love. I have never been one for the sappy sweet idea of Romeo and Juliet and was always more interested in the "what if" factor of second love.
Given that Eclipse moves a lot slower but a lot deeper then Twilight or New Moon, you don't feel anything but anxious for the families of Bella, Edward and Jacob.
With insight into a few of the minor characters you are given a balance between the daydreams of a teenager in love and the grown up responses to that love.
The question remains is it right to ask so much of love ?


BREAKING DAWN

Long, very very long.
There has been one book ever in the past to may me cry and that was Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. Well, the last two chapters of Breaking Dawn made me cry.
That said, a nice closing to the entire Twilight series.
The last half of this story is filled with more dialog then needed, getting every point of view from the many new characters added in this novel. Unlike the last two novels, the shift is once again back on Bella and the Cullen Family. Another full circle is found with reference to real folklore and myths that the author nods to in Twilight.
The subplot in this one seems to run with the theme of myth and the power a myth can hold.






What are my feelings about this set of books? It's refreshing to see a story that collectively is 2444pages that does not feel like it because you are so captivated by the weaving web between the 3 main characters. This is a love story more then anything else, but it does edge on the side of a western in the sense that there is always a showdown at noon. Edgy and witty, even when it was a depressing teen-us against -them love story that does what alot of the books in both vampire and werewolf genres are failing to do right now; which is be tempting without being explicit. Stephenie Meyer did what I didn't think anyone in the vampire genre could or wanted to do anymore, deliver a good solid vampire story without having to resort to cheap sexual ploys.
I haven't rated anything in a long while but I give Twilight Saga a 8out of 10 fangs.